First AG Self/Peer Evaluation

dutra2418 said:

Did my first AG yesterday.

The good: mash ph was right on @ 5.2, I hit my mash temp on the button and stayed there for the whole mash, My homemade mash tun didnt clog! Airlock bubbling happily 10 hours after pitching.

The bad: Brewed outside in teens temps. Regulator on propane froze up and i couldnt get good psi...had to switch to stove top.

The ugly: 57% effeciency...boo! I only mashed for 60 as opposed to the reccomended 75min on the recipe. My OG came up wayyyy short so i had to boil off and add some table sugar. Only wound up with 4 out of 5 gallons.

My question to you all: Was the short mash likely the cause for the low gravity? My crush was good, even borderline shredded. I can upload pics of the tun and gravity numbers if you wish!



Recipe:
6lbs two row pale
2lbs flaked rice
8oz carapils
8oz caramel/crystal malt 40L

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flabyboy said:

In that cold weather you should have ended up with a pre boil volume of 7-7.5 gallons. I did my first all grain yesterday. I had a 7.5 pre boil volume and did a 90 min boil because of pilsner malt. Ended up with 5.75 gallons after boil, 5.5 after chilling and transferred exactly 5 gallons into the fermenter. I actually got a slightly higher gravity than expected.

Yooper is right. You needed more sparge water. You should also stir in your sparge water vigorously and let it sit for 10 mins. Than recirculate and collect the runnings when clear. 2 equal and separate sparges with hot water (180-185) and a good stir will get you a much better efficiency. A lot of your sugars were most likely left behind in your grains.

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